There's got to be irony in the fact that even as IITK joins forces with corporate India - ICICI -  to tom-tom their vision of Inclusive Growth (and here) "IIT Kanpur and ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth," quietly behind the scenes, they are yet again trying to do the exact opposite.

Tomorrow 2nd January 2025, is an eviction deadline for the laundry-workers (so-called Dhobi community) at IITK. The so-called Dhobi-community has been an integral part of the campus since the very first Director Mr Kelkar invited a few workers  - and their families to perform the much-needed activity of laundering clothes for campus residents. They are the quintessential "essential workers" (recall that covid era phrase?) if there were ever one. They have been loyally working in sub-par conditions ever since.  This is not the first time that they have been served notice as they themselves admit in this 5 minute video worth watching. 

In addition, the laundry workers are not claiming permanent residential status let alone title ownership or anything else. With little voice of their own, they are simply asking the management to help them provide relocation assistance so they can move to a suitable location to let them continue delivering their services. This is reasonable. Indeed, more than 80 IITK Alumni have added their voice to the citizens' forum. More details here.

IIT Kanpur prides itself on an inclusive focus. For example, the INVENT social incubation program states " The INVENT will address challenges and barriers across inclusive innovation lifecycle, for the benefit of up to 1 million poor people at the bottom of the economic pyramid." It's no use paying "lip service" to such grandiose statements while on the ground IITK is a participant in uprooting livelihoods of the vulnerable workers - who really are IITK's "essential workers" and loudest cheerleaders.  

We demand that IITK Management intervene urgently in the planned disruptive action for tomorrow - in the middle of the cold season. We urge you to do the right thing.